Extinction In Stereo (2005)

Bigmouth JPN

I don't think that I am going out on too far of a limb saying that No Trigger are one of the more underrated bands out there in the scene today. I have heard people ranting and raving about how they were the best unsigned band out there (not any more thanks to Nitro Records) and people were not lying. And after listening to it, I can't understand how they went so long without being picked up.

Extinction In Stereo opens with the stellar track "What We Became." For anyone that has not heard their sound at all, No Trigger is another hardcore punk in the vein of Rise Against, Strike Anywhere and such. But to merely label them as that does not do the band enough justice. First off, "What We Became" is one of the catchiest songs you have ever heard with some of the most inventive guitar melodies you have ever heard. One of the highlights of No Trigger is their socially relevant lyrics and "What We Became" doesn't disappoint; "and maybe one of these days / all the blindfolds will simply break away / from empty eyes revealing limitless blue skies / and the bats and moles will see / what we became." The band does a fantastic job of layering the vocals, with a combination of singing over a tuned down and slightly faded background scream howling "what we became."

Songs like "Call It A Day" show the influence of Strike Anywhere, but the difference with No Trigger is that the music is much more complex. Their songs aren't long by any means, but relatively, for hardcore punk, these songs are epics. It gives the band a chance to build up the songs better, and despite the fact that there are only seven songs on the album, it feels like a blissful eternity. "Call It A Day" actually has a thirty-second outro that most hardcore punk bands would immediately toss out of the recording, but it adds an extra emotion to the album. "On Fire" does a masterful job of slowing it down a minute in before picking it up and it is little touches like this that make this album so great.

Where No Trigger make their greatest accomplishment is that they have already mastered the rabid ferocity and discontent to rival the greats of the genre. Where they seem to have the edge is that they have shown in Extinction In Stereo a greater musical diversity and ingenuity. Each song is complex in its own way and they are able to vary their sound, even in the same song, quite well. Anyone that is a fan of punk at all should pick this album up. These guys have a long and bright future ahead of them.